After the Girls of Summer Are Gone
by helebette
Summary: Swan Queen AU, Regina and Emma meet during Spring Break, sometime in the early 2000s, years before they have to actually embrace adulthood. (Warning for brief Ruby involvement and naked men who aren't described in any detail)
1. Chapter 1

The first time Regina Mills lays eyes on Emma Swan, it is from an odd angle. Emma is on her head, drinking beer through a hose, while two naked, muscular men hold her ankles.

The first impression Regina has of Emma, isn't great.

First of all, the blonde doing keg stands is topless. Secondly, she doesn't seem fazed by the nudity of the men with her, so Regina assumes (wrongly) that the two gay men holding her ankles are also her lovers. In fact they're just really into being naked and they're also pretty drunk themselves, and ten years later they'll both stand in Emma and Regina's wedding, but for now, Regina is mildly frightened and fairly judgemental of them both.

To make matters worse, Regina is drunk and angry because her friends called her uptight and left her to wander the long stretch of beach alone. This is how she stumbled into this open house party and now she feels that she cannot escape. Bodies push against her back, shoving her further into the chaos.

Outside the dingy, sandy, beige linoleum covered kitchen, hundreds of similar scenarios are playing out. 20-something men and women, all half naked (or fully), all drunk (or into other things), are wasting their parents' money on Spring Break.

Regina is, of course, wasting her own damned money thank you very much and Emma…

"I live here." The blonde snickers as she finally lands on her feet again and promptly runs into Regina. "Nice bikini by the way." Her eyes scan the dark haired woman's body appreciatively. Then she leans in and says, "purple suits you!" and promptly throws up on Regina's feet.

It is so totally love at first sight.

They end up by the water, Emma huddled in one of her friend's arms, while the other helps Regina to wash off. By now the guys have put on shorts and introduced themselves.

Javier grins at Regina as she splashes handfuls of water onto her calves. "My boyfriend thinks you have a thing for Em."

"Your…" Regina shakes her head. "A thing? I do not have a thing…" She may have noticed Emma's awesomely gorgeous body, but who wouldn't? There weren't exactly clothes around to cover it all. Javier hands her a cold beer from a cooler buried nearby—someone else's beer but no one seems to notice—and she drinks it slowly.

"The three of us live in that house back there. It's tiny but it's paradise to us." He jerks his head toward Emma and adds, "She makes these awesome handbags. And she paints. I'm pre-med. Ted is working at the 'finding myself' corporation."

"I just started law school. I'm too old for this shit." Regina shrugs. She had fast tracked through her first degree and someone in her dorm had accused her of being a total drag, so Spring Break seemed like some stupid remedy or something. For some reason she likes this odd trio though, so when she is invited to hang out for dinner, she stays.

"Where are you staying?" Emma yawns as she asks. The white cotton shirt she wears still shows a lot of cleavage and Regina can't help but peek from time to time.

"In a room with two _idio_…people, I came with." Regina delivers the information more to Emma's boobs than her face, but Emma doesn't seem to mind.

"Why aren't you at Dinah?" Emma whispers loudly.

"I didn't know about it until someone called me a big dyke and told me to go there." Regina digs in her bag for a shirt to pull on over her bikini. The heat has given way to a cool breeze coming off the ocean. "I'm not, by the way." Regina adds.

"Not what?" Emma hands her a hot dog.

"Not a big…nevermind." Regina sighs. She hasn't dated since breaking up with her fiancé, Greg, a year ago. "I'm basically…" She was going to say bisexual but the word dies on her tongue. "Label free." She adds instead. Emma snorts next to her and scoots closer.

Someone breaks out a bottle of Patron and pours her a shot and the subject of her sexual orientation goes away. The guys they're with can get along with anybody, it seems, and soon they're off playing volleyball with a bunch of drunk frat boys.

Then a dozen dancing bodies descend on their space and the tequila bottle speeds up on its rounds and the rest of the night is one of those blurs best told through a Flo-Rida video. Regina thinks she remembers doing a body shot off of someone's left boob and she's pretty sure a Kesha lookalike gave her a lap dance, but otherwise not much is understood between her third drink and the moment when she wakes up in the middle of a giant sand castle next to a green Jell-O and sparkle covered Emma.

Regina sneaks away, crashing through the backdoor of the castle, and walks half a mile back to her hotel. Back in the room, six people are asleep on her bed so she grabs her bag and goes down to the desk to find another place to crash.

Everything is booked. As in really booked. As in she's either sleeping on the beach for the rest of the week, or crawling back to her new 'friends'.

As it turns out, Emma, Javier, and Javier's boyfriend Ted, are all happy to see her when she returns in a lime green bikini, a pair of cutoffs, and a dazzling smile that says 'I give up' more than anything.

They give her a corner of their living room to sleep in, complete with dividers and the coziest blow-up mattress she's ever slept on. They also refuse the money she offers, so she makes a quick run to the store. Emma is the one who greets her when she wheels up with a stolen wagon of imported beer. There is something in the brightness of the woman's smile and the crinkle of her eyes that draws Regina in.

The sun is shining and the music is loud and Regina finally decides to relax for a change. She starts with sunbathing and smoking weed on the back porch of the small beach house while partygoers pass her by. Twenty minutes down the beach, there is a hotel swimming pool and once they are all able to steal bracelets to get in, they set up there for an afternoon and evening party.

Somehow, Regina finds herself dancing on the diving board with half a bottle of wine in hand, when Emma runs into her and they fall into the water together. This may or may not be their first kiss—the kiss that results—but it's the first kiss Regina can actually remember. Emma apologizes against Regina's mouth and treads fast to keep them both afloat, all while a bunch of people whoop around them and Regina tries to climb atop her in the water.

"You taste like oranges." Regina sputters and plants a firm kiss somewhere above Emma's left eye before finding her mouth again. Strong hands cup her ass and she moans and pulls Emma closer. They end up against the side of the pool, kissing deeply, all because Regina suddenly remembers that she hasn't slept with someone in a year and damn it's about time…

Emma laughs at her. "Geez, slow down there magic woman." For some reason this nickname came about the night before. Now Emma snickers as Regina's hands magic their way beneath her bikini top, then quickly cup her ass, then cover her nipples just as fast somehow. "I like you, you know." Emma tries to be serious, but there was a lot of some kind of fruity drink she liked flowing around and she's tanked again.

They go back to the little house on top of Regina's new bed. Somehow, in between groping each other and fending off offers for group action, they walk through the door, bypass Javier and Ted (who promptly run back out to give them at least the illusion of privacy) and land on the blowup mattress in a heap of naked limbs and tangled bikinis.

Regina thinks that Emma smells like sunshine, and Emma thinks that Regina may have sunstroke, but then they shut up and kiss and it suddenly becomes a lot easier to remove one another's clothing and things just…_click_…

A few hours of post-sex blissed out sleep rejuvenates them. Regina wakes with Emma's mouth between her thighs and she leans back and stares at the ceiling stains.

They swim in the ocean for the rest of the day. Regina tells Emma about her controlling parents and vast family fortune. Emma tells Regina to give it all to the poor and come live in her little beach house.

"I can't sew or paint or do anything useful. I may be able to finance a new roof, however." Regina deadpans. Her arms are around Emma's shoulders and her legs are around her waist and she bobs happily while Emma's fingers work their way beneath the side of her bikini bottoms. She smiles innocently at the drunk women who wave and throw flotation devices with a beer company written on the sides, all while Emma strokes her clit and gives her a quiet orgasm.

Later, they shower together, removing sand and salt from ridiculous places, and Regina proves to Emma that her breasts really are astounding.

"Look what I can do…" Regina leans down and licks each of Emma's perfect peaks repeatedly and firmly, kneading as she goes, until Emma begins to shake and whine. Emma's hips slam into her own as she comes, and Regina reaches down and strokes herself, encouraging Emma to do the same. They watch each other come, and something sparks between them brighter than before. This isn't just a fling but they haven't gotten freaked out about it just yet.

That night they find a place that serves awesome noodles and they huddle up on the back porch in one huge bean bag chair that Ted made.

"So is it time for our coming out stories?" Regina asks sarcastically but Emma seems to love the idea.

"I'm basically gay. I mean I know I'm gay. I mean I just realized it before you showed up. I dated a lot of guys. I mean a _lot _of guys." Emma ignores the scowl that this evokes. "It's like I'm one of the guys, you know? So I was confused about that for a long time." She forks a bite of spicy peanut tofu and chews thoughtfully.

"I've always slept with women and with men. I didn't see the difference. Men were for marrying, though." Regina shrugs, missing the wide-eyed look of alarm that Emma gives her.

"That sucks. Women are for fucking but men are for marrying?" Something in Emma's voice signals hurt more than it should.

"Wait a second." Regina ignores that question as something becomes clearer. "You realized…just _before_ I showed up?"

Emma nods. "Yeah, you're like my first. And whatnot." Her cheeks are bright red and she buries herself in her food.

"Huh. Well then. I should be honored. I mean I am honored." It'll take Regina a few years before she figures out the right things to say at times like these. For now, Emma tolerates it.

The rest of the week passes in a blur of booze and pot and sex. Emma and Regina mostly have sex with one another, but one afternoon sees an inebriated Regina making out with a woman she thinks is Emma but who is really someone named Kathryn. She makes out with her awhile, growing more and more confused, before Emma herself swoops in.

"I'm your white fucking knight." Emma laughs as she hauls Regina up off the beach where Kathryn had been trying to drag her into an orgy with a group of skinny drunk guys.

"You're my savior." Regina snickers then hiccups then tries to yank Emma's shorts off.

"Let's not overstate." Emma holds her shorts up then distracts Regina by grabbing a beer from two Corona sponsors riding by. A topless dark haired woman with bright red lipstick walks by Emma and gives her an appraising look.

"We should follow her." Regina decides, seeing Emma's eye starting to roam. "We only live once!"

They end up in a topless volleyball game, which ends with Regina bringing the mysterious history student named Ruby, back to Emma's place. If the awkward threeway they attempt to have isn't so great, no one says, but the drinks keep flowing and Emma at least gets to do one thing she's always fantasized about. Fucking Regina on all fours while Regina eats out Ruby is enough debauchery for a good long while, so after that, the three just drink copious amounts of water and talk.

"I fly back to school tomorrow." Ruby admits aloud when Regina won't answer Emma's question about her own plans.

"Yeah, I do as well." Regina mutters.

After that, Ruby senses that they might need to be alone. They both take her email address and promise to write or drop a line if either is in the Boston area.

What should be an evening spent saying goodbye, is instead one spent dozing in Emma's bed this time, as the effects of alcohol and pot and sun all take their toll. They take turns holding on, neither sleeping much until the late hours. Somewhere out on the beach, someone plays Boys of Summer (badly) on their acoustic guitar, and a dozen people join in and sing loudly. They sing the song over and over before Regina feels herself drift off at last.

When Emma wakes at 7am the next morning, she is alone in her bed and Regina's bag is gone.

**TBC (from Emma's POV, ten years later…)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Big shout out to my beta, ****elodealeaf, ****without whom this would be peppered with many more mistakes. As it stands, all mistakes are mine alone. I always seem to rush these things—the ideas flow way better than the writing I think**** Anyway, thanks for all of your reviews on that last chapter. Once again, this was a tumblr prompt. Something about smutty Spring Break Swan Queen sex. Well I broke the rules and made it all serious in this chapter, but maybe the next will be lighter;) **

**After the Girls of Summer are Gone: 2**

Ten years later, Emma and Regina meet up again, only this time there is no Spring Break and they have both made enough mistakes and suffered enough losses to know that such indulgences are temporary and probably not worth all of the hidden costs.

They have been inhabiting their city like two seasoned urbanites for two short years in Emma's case, and five years in Regina's. Emma has an actual residence this time—an apartment she shares with only her artwork and a pet gecko named Cricket.

_Their_ city.

Which they'd already been sharing without knowing it for two years before running into one another at a legal benefit for a group of War Resistor recently escaped to Vancouver.

Emma is nursing the same glass of wine she was given at the door. She still hasn't met the host yet. The place is packed. She is wearing her fanciest red dress and a pair of heels that kill her ankles but make her ass look amazing.

Some days, she feels as though she's aging prematurely. She is often tired. It doesn't help that the small gallery she started barely flounders along in one of the poorest parts of the city. No one ever said that working with community, and working for social change, would ever actually garner a big pay cheque. Moreover, she's been feeling…well…_lonely_. Even in such a big city, even after establishing herself over the past two years, nothing seems to fit. Lovers come and go and Emma makes sure that none of them have her proper phone number.

This party is some attempt on Emma's part to just get out of the house. It is thrown by some wealthy human rights lawyer. The first name rings a bell—Regina. Like _the_ Regina who once passed through Emma's life like a summer breeze. But the last name—Fitzgerald—doesn't match the 'Mills' she remembers. So no way is it possible that the woman named Regina who Emma hasn't even met yet has anything to do with the law student she once spent a magical week with.

One truth—one deep, silly truth that Emma only shares with her closest friends—is that she thinks about Regina _Mills_ a great deal. Well, maybe not a great deal. More like once a month. Or when she breaks up with a lover. Or when she meets a lover. Or when she thinks about the love she lost and wonders if she'll ever love that passionately.

All around her, people talk about the housing market, war, and an earthquake that hit Japan fairly recently.

"Thank goodness for art." A woman's voice filters through the din and captures Emma's attention. There is a moment—just a quick moment—when Emma wants to gurgle her wine and bay sarcastically. Art does not fucking solve economic crashes, anymore than economics solve the need for art. Or…something. She isn't sure, but the first woman sounds like a pretentious, rich idiot. Emma glances at the card she had been hastily given by her best and closest friend, and shakes her head. Why had she come to this? 'You have to meet more people,' Javier had said.

It doesn't take long for his little agenda to make itself known.

"Art has nothing to do with material reality." Someone argues with the first woman, but it turns out she was really just being baited, so she drops it.

"My friends are uptight." A laughing, dark haired woman flops next to Emma on the couch she had been using to hide out.

Of course it's Regina. _The_ Regina.

Of course.

Of _fucking_ course.

Because that has been Emma's life for years now. Messed up coincidences and ghosts from her past. She wonders if it's an omen, like maybe she's going to die soon or something. Her eyes grow wide even as she sips her drink. Shit, no, that's probably just part of the post-traumatic stress induced by the really awful, drawn out death of the only woman she had ever really committed herself to.

"Oh _wow_." Is all Regina can say before swiping a perfect wave of dark hair from her eyes. Gone is the girlish grin and occasional stray curl and the lines at the corners of her eyes are deeper. Her hair is straightened and perfectly frames her face.

"You look great." Great. Fuck that. Regina is beautiful. Even more than Emma remembered.

"So do you," comes her host's quiet reply. Her smile is enigmatic. "What brings you to this neck of the woods?"

"Ummmm…" Emma wonders at the question. "I live here. I mean in another neck of the woods entirely, but here in L.A."

"Lovely!" Regina looks almost confused for a second, like she can't believe her luck. "We should have coffee."

"Regina!" A noisy, angry looking grey-haired man with dark glasses interrupts. Emma recognizes him. He's a local dentist and a total playboy. Or whatever it's called these days. "Listen, they're evacuating some stupid sporting event and telling us all to go home."

"Well then, go home." Regina waves a hand at him and smiles as sarcastically as Emma has ever seen anyone smile. "I have all of your money now. Shoo."

He rolls his eyes and kisses her on both cheeks before sweeping away in the opposite direction and then out the front door. Others soon follow, calling out cheerful goodbyes to their host or stopping for a quiet word. When Emma makes a move to get up as well, Regina clamps down on her wrist.

"Someone has to help me clean up. Besides, I live alone, what if my roof collapses and I'm trapped beneath the rubble?"

"You'd rather be trapped with me?" Emma shakes her head with a chuckle. She starts to clear up wine glasses, gathering them in her hands by their stems, using each one for remaining wadded up napkins and leftover finger foods. It takes a few moments before she realizes that Regina has been quietly staring at her. "Ummm…what is it?"

"You've changed." Regina starts. She is wearing a red silk blouse that is very expensive, most likely, but that also makes her look older than she should look. There is a kind of darkness behind Regina's eyes that Emma doesn't remember.

"So have you." Emma decides with a shrug. "It's been a long time and you're neither drunk nor grumpily wandering aimlessly in a bikini." This earns an eye roll.

"Let's start over." Now Regina gentles her gaze and steps into the other woman's space. "It's nice to see you again, Emma."

Emma relaxes a little more and opens her mouth to respond, when a huge clap of thunder sounds overhead. The lights flicker and they both look up.

An hour later, there are candles lit in every corner of the large living room and open kitchen. Emma had watched, over one shoulder, the jagged bolts of lightening in the horizon, framed by the massive kitchen window while she helped wash dishes. Halfway through her chores, Regina had sat her down with a glass of wine and insisted that she had done enough, so now Emma just watches the storm for a while.

The waters are choppy and the beach seems to be filling quickly with all kinds of junk. Emma has a sudden memory of being on another beach, with her partner, watching waves of purple jellyfish slosh up onto the sand. She glances over at Regina, watching as her brow furrows over a particularly stubborn mess on one of her countertops.

Finally, Regina joins her and they sit and watch the storm together.

"So…your last name. Is there a Mr..." Emma starts slowly, watching Regina tense.

"There was. We had a son. He left to live with his father. I was too strict, I was too..." Regina laughs but the sound is bitter. "There are too many mistakes to count." She finishes, leaning over when she says it. "And you? Kids? Partner?"

"Girlfriend for six years. She passed away two years ago." Emma holds up her hand to head off the 'sorry.' She pauses and swallows a lump, shaking her head slightly. "So…umm…a husband, huh?"

"Was wondering when we'd get to that." Amused smile. "I had to keep up appearances and he had this place."

"Ouch." Emma can't help but laugh. She shakes her head in confusion. "Appearances?"

Regina ignores that part at first and jokes, "Please, he got the loft in Manhattan. Besides, I'm half kidding. Anyway, in response to what you're really asking about, I was with a woman for a year before he came along." She puts down her glass to grab a throw from overtop the red angular couch. Somehow just watching the wind makes the cozy space seem cooler.

Regina speaks quietly again. "Emma, I'm sorry I left the way I did." Regina's eyes are sincere but now it's Emma's turn to roll hers.

"Really?" Emma laughs again, sips her wine. "How else were you supposed to leave? We weren't getting married and making babies. I mean I was living with my stoner friends making furniture out of old purses and purses out of old furniture."

"I had fun." Regina adds. "Still, good riddance to Spring Break mayhem. Unsafe. Un. Safe. I wouldn't let my kid go to one."

"Yeah." Emma snorts. "Do you remember making me fight for that girl's honor after those guys tried to pressure her into some weird orgy?"

"No, I don't recall." Regina does this thing where she traces the rim of her glass and then sips and then does it again. She is oh so casual when she stretches one arm behind Emma and starts to caress the couch.

"They were trying to video her having some ridiculous sex thing with lots of dudes, in a tank of Jell-o. You threw me in there and told me to defend her, so I punched out some guy. Then you shoved the girl into a crowd of other girls, none of who knew her, and shouted that I was your Champion. You ordered me to build you a castle, to keep out all future assholes."

"I remember waking up," Regina hesitates, "next to you and you were covered in Jell-o and glitter. Did we have sex?" Now the arm Regina has slid behind Emma's shoulders nearly retreats.

Emma clears her throat before beginning. "Um…sort of. You sort of touched yourself and rubbed against my leg and you kept whispering, 'no one can see us in our castle'…but the problem was, people could see us, so I had to distract you by making you build bigger parts of the ummm…castle and all." Emma tries not to laugh, because Regina looks so appalled. Then she can't help it. The laughter bubbles up and Regina nearly leaps to her feet. "Oh come on." She reaches, manages to catch the other woman's elbow, and tugs her back. "Come on…" Quieter this time. It seems suddenly really important to keep Regina next to her. Maybe it's the weather, or just impending doom, like they're in some horror movie and Emma doesn't think they should be separated. She smirks and then looks at her glass.

Regina notices that it's empty and reaches for the bottle. "You've already had half a bottle, why stop now."

Waving away the offer, Emma lets her eyes wander over Regina's features. "Because I'm in my mid-30s, not my mid-20s." She grins and stretches. "Besides, you don't have to get me drunk to get me into bed."

It takes a second, but then Regina turns and smiles. She starts to say something sarcastic but Emma leans in and kisses her first. At first, she feels pretty nonchalant about the whole thing. Why not? It's not like she can get home, or should even try.

Then the reality of the kiss sinks in. This isn't some drunken grope on a beach, it's warm and soft and when Emma parts her lips, Regina's tongue meets hers, slowly moving against her own, like this isn't a big deal, this happens all the time, this aching, thrumming heat.

Regina's head tilts to the right and Emma's to the left and their noses slide neatly together which for some reason Emma can't stop thinking about, like why weren't noses ever a part of her previous thought processes while kissing? Then Emma's legs shake, she starts to breathe too hard, and she pushes Regina away.

"Are you ok? Wow…" Regina pulls back slightly, takes a deep breath. She watches Emma frown and try to collect herself.

Emma licks her lips and looks at Regina in a daze. She says something that sounds like incoherent humming and leans in again.

Regina nudges her chin with one finger and they kiss again again, hot and wet, mouths pushing, like they're trying to climb inside one another. Emma gets the upper hand first, leaning practically on top of Regina, whose hands slip Emma's dress straps off.

"Wu…wait, slow down…" Emma breathes in and out fast. She burrows against Regina's neck, feeling her dress slip off completely, before soothing hands circle her back. Her hand has a fistful of Regina's hair and she inhales its unique scent. "God…dammit woman, you smell good…" is her juvenile response to the smell of jasmine and dark chocolate on Regina's skin. She finds herself kissing the source of that scent, scraping her teeth lightly against the fluttering pulse, while Regina arches and moans.

"I thought you said slow down?" Regina gasps as Emma tears at her blouse.

"Changed my mind. Is this ok?" Emma asks for permission before slipping the clasp of Regina's bra.

Regina just keeps saying "_Yes_" again and again, all while Emma's mouth trails wetly over her breasts.

When they finally make it to the bed, their clothes are strewn about and torn. The storm that still rages outside makes their need that much more urgent. Neither can say why. They've both had a few dry, lukewarm one night stands in recent months. Emma had worried that she'd become untouchable, but when Regina rolls her over and works a hand between her legs, she sighs with relief as much as pleasure. Her knees move against Regina's sides, her hands press hard so that Regina's full weight is on her when she comes.

The next morning sees Emma fully at home on what feels like her side of the bed already. Which is a little scary. She doesn't dream, but sometime in the early morning, she hears birds and wonders if she may have slept walked outside. The sounds trail off though and she orients herself against the coolness of the sheets and the warmth of Regina's body.

"Hey. Storm's passed." Regina is groggy and adorably disheveled. She turns into Emma's arms and dozes a few moments before shaking herself awake fully.

They wander to Regina's favorite diner for breakfast, dressed much more casually than the night before, after Emma borrows a shirt and some slacks. Store owners are sweeping and shoveling debris from their pieces of sidewalk. Despite the chaos, Emma recognizes someone. The ridiculous dentist guy is hosting a woman she remembers from the party. They wave at him cheerfully and he grins knowingly back. After scarfing down eggs and toast and taking a few pictures of the piles of still-melting hail on the sidewalk, they check on Emma's store.

"Wow…" Is all Emma can say. Regina's words are a little more heated but then she notices Emma's calm.

"Why aren't you more upset?"

"Nothing is meant to last forever, forever." Emma shrugs and ignores the odd, dark look that Regina gives her.

They walk through the shattered glass and over the charred, broken branch that had caused much of the damage. "I should call someone, I suppose." Emma shrugs. "I could also make an installation piece out of this." She points and shows Regina one of her paintings, of a faceless woman hunched over on a beach, her feet buried in sand, the sea shimmering in blinding light. There is a moment, amongst the broken glass and old creation, when Emma starts to think about leaving again. It passes. And then Regina's hand touches her shoulder, just lightly, and Emma takes a deep breath.


End file.
